


A Few Days Late

by jasmineisland



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Starvation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-01
Updated: 2013-06-01
Packaged: 2017-12-13 15:59:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/826116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasmineisland/pseuds/jasmineisland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for h/c bingo on lj. <br/>Dean is gone on a hunt with John longer than expected. Sam has run out of money and food.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Few Days Late

[h/c bingo card](http://jasmineisland.livejournal.com/3483.html)

Title: A Few Days Late

Prompt: hunger/Starvation

Medium: meta

Characters: Sam Dean

Warning: 1040: none

Word Count: 1040

Summary: Dean is gone on a hunt with John longer than expected. Sam has run out of money and food.

  


Dean parked the Impala and took a deep breath before he opened the door to the cabin. He’d been due back to Sam on Monday, and it was now Thursday. He knew the 14 year old was not going to be happy with him, but the hunt had taken a day longer, then he’d ended up with three cracked ribs and 40 stitches in his side. Took him a few more days to recuperate enough to drive. John had headed west to another lead with orders for Dean to stay put until his ribs were healed, then pack up Sam and he’d let them know where to meet him.  

The cabin was quiet, but Dean could hear a radio playing Sam’s emo crap out back. He went to the fridge for a drink and stopped. There was nothing in the fridge but a bottle of water. A bad feeling crept over him and he started to look through the cabinets. Nothing. He knew that money would have been tight, but his brother had nothing in the house to eat. And Dean didn’t know how long it had been that way. Moving through the house he reached for the back door, but what he saw made him stop.

Sam was stretched on a picnic table, staring at the sky with a cigarette in his hand. For a moment Dean was tempted to smack the cigarette out of his hand and kick his ass. But then he remembered himself at 14. When the money ran out, he found out that cigarettes were easy to lift, and helped with the hunger. His little brother had been hungry.

When he shut the door, Sam jumped. He flicked the cigarette away, but he knew Dean had already seen  it. Getting to his feet, he moved towards his brother, waiting for the yelling that would come with Dean having seen him smoke.

Instead Dean stared at him quietly. “How long?”

“How long?”

“How long have you been out of food, Sammy?”

“I’m fine, Dean.”

“Don’t con a conman, Sammy. You used to get pissed at me for telling Dad everything was fine when it wasn’t, remember?”

Shrugging, Sam began to inspect his brother for injuries.

“I’m fine, kid. Let me take a quick shower and we’re going to go eat. Name it. Nothing healthy. Got to put some meat on your bones.” His tone was flippant, but his eyes met Sam’s and held them.

After Dean vanished into the house, Sam sighed. He was starving. The food had run out two days ago. His brother was right, Sam would get royally pissed at Dean for pretending everything was okay when he and Sam had been freezing, or starving while Dad was gone. But no matter how bad it had gotten, Sam had never doubted that Dean was doing the best he could. He’d seen the guilt in his brother’s eyes, he knew how badly Dean felt that Sam hadn’t had enough money to get through. His stomach grumbled again and he sighed.

When Dean got out of the shower, he opened the door and stopped. Sam was in the process of changing his shirt, and the sight of his brother’s back made his breath catch in his throat. Every bone was almost protruding from the skin and he realized that his brother hadn’t really eaten enough in a long time. That was stopping now. Maybe being benched for a couple of weeks wasn’t such a bad thing. Obviously his little brother didn’t take care of himself when he was alone. Missing a homework assignment was a mortal sin to the kid, but a meal? From the looks of him he skipped more than his share.

“Come on, Sammy. We’re going to dinner, then ice cream.”

“Dude, I’m not twelve.”

“No, but I think a twelve year old could kick your ass right now. Christ, Sam. I bet I could count every bone.”

Self-concious, Sam stared at the ground and put his hands in his pockets. “Not that hung-“

“Bullshit. You didn’t even have a friggin’ coke in the fridge. Why won’t you be straight with me? Weren’t you the one that hated me lying to Dad about the money and the food?”

“Dean, I made it work, okay? I had a couple lab fees come up and that didn’t leave much.”

“Why didn’t you say something? You didn’t think I’d do something?”

“I know you would have, Dean. You would have busted your ass to get back here and fix it. But then Dad would have been on my ass for the next year for taking you away from a hunt.” He shrugged. “I knew you would be back as soon as you could.”

Guilt ran through the older brother again, knowing Sam was right. Lab fees weren’t part of their father’s world, and there would have been hell to pay if he’d known. Dean found ways to pay for a lot of things their father considered unnecessary.

“I’m fine, Dean. A few meals won’t kill me. And now you’re going to feed me, so, let’s get the hell out of here and eat. Okay?”

Dean had no idea where the belief Sam had in him, but he wasn’t about to ask. Right now he was going to feed the boy and then come back and maybe take another hot shower before he went to bed. “Okay.”

“Then after dinner you should take a really hot shower and get some sleep. Those ribs can’t be happy about the drive back.”

Dean smiled. “Not that bad.”

“Don’t con a conman, jerk.”

“Conman? You’re the shittiest liar I’ve ever known, bitch. Let’s get out of here.” As he walked past his brother, he used his good arm to take a hard shot at the back of the kid’s head. “Your gonna pitch those smokes, right?”

“Ouch! Yeah. They’re gone, alright?” Sam rubbed the back of his head and moved out of reach.

“Damn straight.” His eyes met the younger boys and he sighed. “I know why, Sammy, and that’s why I’m not kicking your ass myself. Just don’t.” Smiling, he pointed to the door. “Now get your ass in the car.”

“Thanks, Dean.”

“You got it, Sammy.”


End file.
